Friday, April 13, 2012

Daewoo offshore order surge

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering expects to boost offshore facility contracts this year and is in talks for its first order for a floating liquefied natural gas production plant.

The world’s third-biggest shipbuilder may win the FLNG order early as next month, Senior Executive Vice President Ryu Wan Soo said in an April 9 interview in Seoul, without elaboration, Bloomberg reports.

The shipyard said in a February filing that it was in talks to build a plant for Petroliam Nasional Bhd. (PET)

Daewoo may also get a separate FLNG contract around year-end, which isn’t included in its full-year order target, Ryu said, as energy companies buy gas equipment to meet surging Asian energy use. Investment in LNG and oil-drilling may help Daewoo win $8.5 billion of contracts for offshore products this year, equal to 77 percent of its company-wide order target.

Demand for semi-submersibles, which are used in deep waters, is rising as energy companies explore new areas, including parts of the North Sea, Ryu said. Energy companies will probably order about 15 new rigs industrywide this year, of which the majority will be semi-submersibles, he said.

“Demand for offshore units is expected to grow for at least two to three years as oil companies plan to spend more on exploration and production,” Ryu said. “We should be able to achieve our order target for this year.”

Daewoo has also resumed talks on a possible tie-up with a shipyard in Brazil and it may make a decision on whether to pursue a deal by the middle of the year, Ryu said. He declined to name the Brazilian company.